Place To Heal
by chibijem
Summary: The Hachiyo decide to take Akane away to heal after....Takes place after the events from the film Maihitoyo.


Place To Heal

By

Chibijem

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters herein and am making no financial gain from this work of fiction.

A/N: This story takes place after events in the movie, Maihitoyo. Please be warned it contains spoilers.

Minamoto no Yorihisa watched the Ryuujin no Miko from underneath the shade of a tree; she was sitting quietly as was her manner now. It had been several weeks since she had sealed Oono Suefumi, the man she had fallen in love with not knowing he was an omyo. Even after she had learned what he was, she had still loved him. He watched, over the weeks, as she had become quiet and withdrawn. He and the other Hachiyo had thought her extremely strong and courageous for what she had done at great personal expense: sealing her love away. Now he was unsure just how well she was handling her loss. He knew from his own experience how losing someone close could affect one and how devastating it was when that loss occurred when doing one's duty. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard her call out to him.

"Miko-dono?" He addressed her, coming to stand before her.

"You don't have to watch me all the time." She said softly.

"Ano…." He began. "We are all concerned."

"I know you all are and I'm sorry."

"Iie. I wish I could take all your sadness on myself, that there was something I, or any of us, could do to help."

"I wish there were too. But you all have done so much for me. This is one thing I have to deal with on my own. I thank all of you for your concern, though." She said with a sad smile.

"You know you can come to me anytime for anything. Or the other Hachiyo. We are all here for you."

"Hai, arigatou."

Later that evening, Tomomasa visited with Takamichi and the rest of the Hachiyo and Yorihisa gave them a report on the Miko's day. They were all keeping a close watch on her, with Yorihisa, Tenma and Shimon taking turns within Fuji-hime's houesehold.

"Maybe she needs an outing, to get away, take her mind off things." Inori suggested.

"Where could she go? She is the protector of Kyou." Yasuaki spoke from his corner.

"Does it matter?!" Tenma angrily answered. "At this rate she will not been able to protect a fly let alone the whole of Kyou."

"Tenma is correct. She needs time away." Tomomasa said, tapping his fan against one cheek.

"Would she even agree to go?" Eisen added.

"She would, given the right circumstance." This from Shimon.

"I may know of a place." Yorihisa's voice entered the discussion from his post outside. When the others looked at him he went on. "My family's seat. It's not too far to travel but far away enough to give her some freedom."

"Hmmmm, interesting." Tomomasa said, looking over at Fuji-hime.

"I think it would be acceptable." The tiny princess said. "Do you think you can convince the Emperor?"

"Done." The teal-haired general turned to Yorihisa once more. "When can you arrange it?"

"We can start out in two days time. Fuji-hime?" The tall samurai turned his attention to the one he served. "If that is alright."

"Hai, I may join you. It had been a long time since I have visited with your family."

Afterwards, the hachiyo moved outside and Tomomasa questioned Yorihisa. "Is there trouble with your family?" He asked, knowing Yorihisa had to have his reasons for volunteering his family's house.

"Iie, just a few things have been brought to my attention and I need to see to." They began a stroll through the gardens, the full moon lighting their way. "Gomen ne, I hope you don't think I had an ulterior motive for my suggestion."

"It is just like you: taking care of Akane-dono and not shirking your duty to Fuji-hime." Tomomasa tapped his fan on the blue-haired man's shoulder.

"Tomomasa-dono!" The rebuke coming from Takamichi, who had joined them. "Yorihisa-san would never do such a thing.

"He knows I am only teasing." The general countered. "Now, how many of us should accompany her?"

"Why not all of us, if we can manage it?" Takamichi recommended.

"You? You are willing to leave your books to others?" Tomomasa asked with astonished eyes. He became serious, "If you can manage to get away…." He encouraged with a smile and a wink. "I shall let the Emperor know of our plans when I see him tomorrow."

Two days later, Fuji-hime's household quite busy. There were carts and horses in the courtyard in preparation for the journey. The princess was giving orders to those who were staying behind while the packing was completed.

"Ano, are you all sure you can come ?" Akane asked, helping load a cart.

"It's not a problem, Akane-dono." Tomomasa replied, checking the saddle of his horse. "The Emperor himself gave his blessing." He had explained that Fuji-hime had wanted to visit Yorihisa's family; Tomomasa knew she would deny neither the princess nor their samurai protector anything.

Shortly, the group was on their way, Yorihisa leading the way. Shimon, Inori and even Tenma were excited about the trip. Akane was riding horseback but was conversing with Fuji-hime who was in an ox-cart. Tomomasa was in conversation with Takamichi and the others were gleaning information from Yorihisa about his ancestral home. The group stopped for a light meal at an inn along the way, taking a much needed break from the morning of travel. Yorihisa, Tomomasa, Takamichi and Tenma were taking a leisurely stroll after the meal, discussing events.

"How do you think she is faring?" Tomomasa asked Tenma.

"She seems to be more relaxed. She spent the entire morning chatting with Fuji-hime." Tenma answered, kicking a stone down the pathway.

"I hope this visit helps," Takamichi added, watching a bird flying through the canopy of tree limbs.

Two days later, the caravan of travelers came to a stop in the courtyard of Yorihisa's family home. Several people were waiting including one elderly lady, whom Yorihisa greeted warmly. "Hahaue," he bowed to the lady and then was swept into an affectionate embrace much to his chagrin. He then introduced everyone after which they were shown to their rooms to rest from the journey. It was several hours before they saw Yorihisa again. He plopped down with a tired grace near the pond where everyone had gathered, enjoying the nice weather.

"Everything taken care of?" Eisen asked, fingering his ever present flute.

"As much as possible." Yorihisa fell back to lay in the grass.

"Trouble?" Tomomasa queried.

"Not as much as there could be."

"Is there anything we can do?" Akane asked looking up from a game she was playing with Fuji-hime.

"Iie, arigatou. We are here so Fuji-hime can visit and we can all take a rest." He kept in line with Tomomasa's explanation for the trip.

"Will you be able to now?" Shimon asked.

"Hai," he replied sitting up and resting back on his elbows. "I was thinking we could all go to the waterfall tomorrow."

The following morning, Yorihisa pushed back a branch to allow Akane to see the waterfall. He smiled when he heard the delighted gasp. He turned to see the others with similar grins on their faces. The group carefully made their way to the base of the falls where a lake large enough for swimming was. Before long, Tenma stripped down into swimming attire and climbed to the top of the falls and dived in. It didn't take long after that before the other Hachiyo were in the water, swimming and playing water games. Akane soon joined them, leaving Fuji-hime to supervise the laying out of the lunch they had brought. The diminutive princess smiled hearing the miko laughing once again.

"Tomomasa-san!" Akane complained when he swept water at her, drenching her.

"Gomen, gomen," he laughed. "I was aiming for Takamichi." He explained.

Akane turned in the water to face the green-haired man. "Takamichi," she shook a finger at him with a smile.

The day was spent teasing Akane out of her gloomy mood and playing games. It was a nice change of pace for everyone including Fuji-hime who laughed at the antics of everyone. Pleasantly tired, it was late when they made their way back to the house.

Akane happened to look through the trees and spied an old temple. "Yorihisa-san?" she motioned to the small building.

"Hai, it was ancient when I was a child. I believe it was built by one of the first Minamoto to occupy this land."

Akane trailed after the group, lost in thought. _That temple is so like the one where Suefumi-san stayed; where we first talked. Where I fell in love, _ she contemplated sadly.

Tomomasa feeling the change in Akane, tapped Yorihisa on the shoulder with his fan. Having the samurai's attention, he tilted his head in the miko's direction. Yorihisa sighed in resignation; _the day had gone so well. What could have changed that?_

After the evening meal, the Hachiyo sat around a large fire pit in the yard discussing the day. Akane had excused herself after the evening meal and closed herself in her rooms pleading exhaustion. They had all noticed Akane's mood change on the way home from the lake and waterfall.

"Akane-chan seemed to be happy this afternoon." Shimon's voice carried the worry plainly. "I wonder what happened?" He stirred the fire.

"She _was_ doing much better. Everything was going well until we were walking back." Inori added, remembering with a smile the pink-haired miko's laughter throughout the day.

Yorihisa was staring into the flames, going over the walk home in his mind. "The temple," he said to no one in particular.

"What about it?" Takamichi asked, taking his glasses off the clean them.

"Kotengu-chan told us he had delivered Akane-dono's letter to the old temple." Tomomasa's mind was putting the pieces together. "The temple today brought it all back to her." He finished with a sigh.

"Kuso!" Tenma pounded the ground next to him in frustration.

"What should we do?" Eisen rubbed his thumb over his flute.

"Leave her be." Yasuaki answered. "Yorihisa said she told him she had to deal with this on her own and that is what we should do."

"Leaving her be has brought us to this point." Tenma argued.

"We've only been here two days. Let's give her more time."

Those words were prophetic the next morning when no one could find the Ryuujin no Miko. The whole of the Minamoto household was in an uproar over her disappearance.

The Hachiyo gathered in the main courtyard after searching separately. "No sign of her." Tenma ran up to the group. "Where could she have gone?" He bent at the waist to catch his breath.

"Let's split up," Tomomasa began, tapping his fan against his cheek. "Takamichi, Tenma, Yorihisa and I will go up to the lake. The rest should go into town and see if she ventured there."

The two groups split up and went their individual ways. After checking the lake and waterfall, Tomomasa's party were walking back when Yorihisa turned onto a hidden path that led to the old temple. As the men rounded the last curve they saw Akane sitting on the steps, head resting on her knees.

"Miko-dono!"

"Akane-dono!"

"Akane!"

When they reached her, they could see the tears marring her face, dripping off her chin. The all knelt before her, concern plain of their faces and in their eyes. "Daijoubu?"

"Gomen ne, minna." She raised a hand to wipe away a tear. "I needed to be alone."

"Akane…" Tenma began. He was silenced by Tomomasa's hand coming to rest on his shoulder and squeezing gently.

"Akane-dono," Takamichi laid a tender hand on her knee. "You are never alone. You must know we all share your sadness."

"Takamichi is right," Tomomasa confirmed. "You are not alone in your sadness. The first time you experience loss is a difficult time. There are so many emotions buffeting you." Tomomasa told her, smiling soothingly at her.

"And when that loss comes while doing your duty…." Yorihisa added, a sad smile on his handsome face.

"It is much harder to bear." Tomomasa finished with a look to his blue-haired subordinate. He knew of Yorihisa's past and how the samurai was still dealing with the loss of his brother. "But you have the rest of us to help you. You are not nor ever will be alone." He repeated, laying a kind hand on her shoulder. His eyes flew open when Akane fell into his arms, crying.. He cradled her to him, sitting in the grass. He pressed a kiss to her hair, giving her the time and space to get her pent up emotions out. Tenma and Yorihisa both laid their strong hands on her back, rubbing to soothe her.

It took several long minutes until Akane's tear lessened enough she could take a deep breath. "I miss him; I only knew him for such a short time but we had a connection from the start. He didn't care who or what I was, accepted me for me." She sniffed.

"True love, I've heard, is like that." The general told her, letting her pull slightly away.

"And where would you have heard such a thing, Tomomasa-dono?" Takamichi teased, thankful that it brought a tiny smile to the miko's lips.

"I am wounded, my friend. How could you doubt me?" Was the feigned hurt reply.

Yorihisa rolled his eyes. He was used to such exchanges between the two men; he smiled at Akane when he heard her laugh at his action. He turned his head when thunder sounded, "We should get back." he suggested.

"It always rained when we saw each other. Even the night I sealed him." Akane remembered wistfully. She accepted Tenma's hand to stand from Tomomasa's lap.

"The heaven's wept for you that night." Takamichi rose as well.

"Takamichi. You surprise me. I didn't think you had a romantic bone on your body." Tomomasa stretched and joined in Akane's laughter.

"Tomomasa-dono!" Takamichi protested. "There is much you do not know about me." He huffed and began walking back down the path.

Akane followed the two now arguing men with Yorihisa bringing up the rear. "Minna, arigatou." The heartfelt words of gratitude were soft.

"No need. You are our friend, you are hurting and we all want to help you through this." Yorihisa told her.

"You too, Yorihisa." Tomomasa called out, dodging Takamichi's hand. "I never knew you had it in you."

"Tomomasa-dono," the stoic samurai let out a sigh. He turned to their charge when she called out to him.

"Arigatou, Yorihisa-san. It is a good place to heal."

FIN


End file.
